Up and Running!!!

Welcome to our first weekly staff blog for the 09/10 school year! First off I want to again repeat how much I admire the quality work that has gone into making this startup our very best yet for Carson Elementary! We have had considerable positive feedback from parents about how great it feels to be back here and how much they have appreciated the courteous interactions they have had with many of you! In addition, our Open House was attended by over 2000 people and we had concrete being poured at the same time...and no one wrote their name in the wet cement! That is something we can all be proud of and I hope to keep hearing so much more! Keep up the great work!

Now for the fun stuff. Here is what the upcoming week is shaping up to be like:

MONDAY

Labor Day! Enjoy the day off!!!! Let's keep the labor out of Labor Day this year!

TUESDAY

Grade Level Team Meetings AM or PM for 45 minutes

WEDNESDAY

STAT Team 7:40 Conference Room

Principal Directed LIC 1:00-3:30 Library

THURSDAY

SRC 7:40 Conference Room

PTA Fundraiser Kickoff

PTA General Membership Meeting 7:00pm Commons

FRIDAY

Forza Friday 7:00am near Stahl Jr Hi

BITS & PIECES

• Please turn in your Achievement Gap Action Plan in the file folder outside of Miles's office by the end of the day Tuesday
• Please turn in your SMART Goal CSIP plan form in the file folder outside of Miles's office by the end of the day Tuesday
• Grade level teams: Please email Karen your planned team meeting time so she can put it onto the Google Calendar for the rest of the year. Remember, the choices are on Tuesdays at either 7:30-8:15 or 3:00-3:45. Thank you!
• Here are the dates of Staff Meetings for the year and what team is in charge of bringing food! Plan on the last working Wednesday of the month at 7:25 AM. If there are changes to the schedule, we will let you know!
  September 30 - 1st Grade
  October 28 - 6th Grade
  November 25 - Administration
  December 16 - 2nd Grade
  January 27 - Kindergarten
  February 24 - 4th Grade
  March 24 - 3rd Grade
  April 28 - 5th Grade
  May 26 - Specialists
  June 9 - Administration
• If you are being evaluated by Miles this year, please set up a half hour time either before school, after school, or any other time you are available during the day starting next week (Sept. 8 through Sept. 18). Arturo will catch his group after he returns in October.
• Attention new teachers to Carson :) Please join us in the conference room next week (Sept. 10) from 3:00-4:00 for orientation and training aka. Carson Survival Guide class!
• Important notice about the upcoming Obama speech scheduled for next week. We have had numerous phone calls and conversation with parents who do NOT WANT their children partaking in listening to the Obama message to students being broadcast next Tuesday Sept. 8th. Please read the important guidelines from Jay Reifel, Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning below. If you plan to watch the broadcast, you MUST check in with me first so we can review your plan and objectives. Thanks for understanding!

A number of you and several parents have called to ask questions about President Obama’s televised presentation which is scheduled to air at 9am (PDT) next Tuesday, September 8. He is scheduled to speak for 15 to 20 minutes. He will challenge students to work hard, set education goals and take responsibility for their learning

Here is the link to the Department of Education page that contains answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the speech:

http://www.ed.gov/print/admins/lead/academic/bts.html

The position of the district with regard to the President’s address is as follows:

Viewing of the presentation in schools is permitted; either live or on a delayed basis. Because the time is so short to prepare, you may choose to view the speech on a delayed basis through links provided below. If you or your individual teachers choose to view it, there must also be an accompanying and relevant lesson plan. Below are links to the U.S Department of Education website for the President’s address as well as other links to grade level and subject area appropriate lesson plans and activities. The lesson plans are most logically connected to curricula in Reading, Language Arts, English, Civics or Social Studies.

The viewing of the presentation is optional for K-6 students if their parents specifically request that their child opt out. The viewing is also optional for grade 7-12 students if they or their parents have requested that they be excluded. Requests to opt out can be by phone, note, email or in person.

Even if students opt out of the viewing, participation in any accompanying lesson, activity or assignment is required .

For those students who opt out, you and your teachers should select an activity or assignment from those in the linked pages that wouldn’t require the student to have viewed the address. Many of them are of a general nature related to goal setting or citizenship.

Pre K through Grade 6 classroom activities link:

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.doc

Grades 7-12 classroom activities link:

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/7-12.doc

Downloadable video of the speech will be made available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/ as well as on www.ed.gov. Through the use of the linked resources, we believe that this presidential address can be a worthwhile and valuable experience for our students and staff members. Thank you.

• The final courses for the annual required training have been assigned to all staff on the SafeSchools website (http://puyallup.wa.safeschools.com). The window for completion is now through Sept 30. When a staff member logs in (s)he will automatically see the required eight courses.
• Our target date for when student teacher's will be able to use Teacher Access Center is Sept 8.

• FAMILY DAYS at Karshner Museum: We’d like to offer the opportunity for schools to host Family Days again this year. Below you will find the monthly themes. Stewart Elem. has signed up for the June day but all others are open. Hosting a day lets your school showcase student artwork at the museum for a month and helps us out by encouraging families from your school to visit. We ask that a PTA representative come on that day and help with a craft project if possible. In years past free admission to the museum has been given to families who join PTA that day. October 3 Taxidermy--November 7 Electricity-- December 5 Astronomy-- January 9 Ecology-- February 6 Natural Disasters-- March 6 Paleontology-- NO APRIL FAMILY DAY-- May 1 Puyallup History-- June 5 Oceanography

• Please read the AR info below. This is from a hard copy that should be placed in your staff handbook.

Carson AR

Award Suggestions

2009-2010

Primary

Grade level recognition: Each grade will determine how to recognize students that have met their goal using the same increments.

For Example:

· Stickers charts

· Medals for 100 pts

· Pencils and Carson Kudos for top point earners each month/classroom

Intermediate

Recognition will be determined per grade level using the same increments

100 pt. medals

Pencils/Carson Kudos for top point earners each month/classroom

School Wide

End of each trimester: Extra recess for goal setters

End of year: Ice cream sandwiches for Goal setters

Building goal

50,000 Points

Students will select from a list of choices, such as:

· Teacher’s put on a talent show

· Teacher’s color their hair

· Kiss a goat

Principal’s goal

60,000 Points

Students will select from a list of choices, such as:

· Shave head

· Eat something disgusting

· Ride a unicycle

Carson AR Grade Level Goals

1^st Grade

1^st trimester 5

2^nd trimester 10

3^rd trimester 15

2^nd Grade

1^st trimester 15

2^nd trimester 20

3^rd trimester 25

3^rd Grade

1^st trimester 25

2^nd trimester 30

3^rd trimester 35

4^th Grade

1^st trimester 35

2^nd trimester 40

3^rd trimester 45

5^th Grade

1^st trimester 45

2^nd trimester 50

3^rd trimester 55

6^th Grade

1^st trimester 55

2^nd trimester 55

3^rd trimester 55

AR and STAR Dates

9/3 to 11/20 Trimester ends 12/2

11/21 to 3/05 Trimester ends 3/15

3/06 to 6/4 Last day of school 6/16

If the year is extended we can change the date

Star Testing Dates:

All star testing will be done during the library time. This will postpone the 1^st book check out to the 2^nd full week of school.

Sept. 2-14

Mar. 8-12

June 1-4